The Heir of Potter
by SonOfHades96
Summary: Albus Potter has entered his first year at Hogwarts, but something's not right. For one thing Scorpius Malfoy and his buddies can't seem to leave him alone. Not only that but he's expected to do great things that he knows he's not capable of. He's not his father and he's not his older brother James. But the wierdest thing of all is that he feels like he's being watched...


As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of King's Cross station, I knew that I should've just pretended to be sick. I mean, I was feeling sick enough. My body felt hot and I was sweating beyond the normal. I was sitting opposite to my cousin Rose, who already had on her brand new Hogwarts robes. She was nose deep inside a big leather bounded book, already studying for the final semester no doubt. That's Rose for you; always several steps ahead. She got that from my Aunt Hermione, who in her days at Hogwarts, was smartest witch in the school and could probably outwit any Ravenclaw students, despite what Ravenclaw was all about; wit. Rose was jotting notes down in every page as she read along. Our many cousins were most likely divided into their various little cliques. The reason why Rose and I were the only ones in the compartment, besides the fact that she was the cousin I was closest to, was because we would both be starting our first year at Hogwarts while the rest of our cousins had been going for years. Dominique, whom I hadn't yet seen, was entering her third year, Molly was entering her fourth, Roxanne was entering her sixth, and Victoire was entering her seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Last but certainly not least was my elder brother James who was entering his fifth year.

Victoire was my second-oldest cousin next to Fred, who had graduated the year before. Next came Roxanne who was sixteen. Molly was fourteen and Dominique, who was Victoire's younger sister, was thirteen. Both Rose and I were eleven.

As Rose continued to read and jot down notes, I kept thinking about Hogwarts and what house I would be sorted into. My dad had said that the Sorting Hat would take my choice of house into account, but what if he had lied to make me feel better? Even if it were true, it did not necessarily mean that it would sort me into the house that I wanted. If you're wondering, I would very much like to be in Gryffindor. It has been dubbed as the Weasley-Potter family house by my family because for many generations, no Weasley or Potter had failed to be sorted into Gryffindor and I did not want to be the first. For years my brother James had taunted me about breaking the family cycle. He said I'd probably end up in Slytherin because I wasn't as brave as he was. I absolutely do not want to be in Slytherin! Lord Voldemort had been a Slytherin and I definitely do not want to be part of the house that he had been in. For all I knew, I could be sleeping in the same bed that he had. No! No! No! I would not be in Slytherin!

The train sped on and pretty soon, nothing but wilderness surrounded it. Rose had finally put down her big book only to open up an even bigger one. She noticed me staring and she frowned at me.

"You know Albus, you should be doing the same. The more you know now, the easier it will be later." She had always had a matter-of-fact tone, just like her mother. She looked exactly like Aunt Hermione too; the same big brown eyes, same facial features. If it weren't for her red hair, or "Weasley hair" as most called it, she could've easily be confounded for her mother at her age.

"Oh please, Rose, I've got more important things to worry about." I said. I got up and began pacing around the small compartment.

"What's got you all worried?" she asked. I hadn't told anyone but my father about my fear of being placed in Slytherin. Rose was like my best friend. I could trust her. I took a deep breath.

"Rose, what if we're not placed in Gryffindor? What if we ruin the family cycle?" She closed her book and thought for a brief moment.

"Well then we just don't get placed in Gryffindor. It's really no big deal, Albus."

"But what if—" I lowered my voice a little. "What if I'm placed in Slytherin?"

"Really? You're worried about being placed in Slytherin?" She made it sound as if it were silly not to want to be placed in Slytherin. But then again, Rose did have a tendency for making everything she thought was stupid sound silly. She rolled her eyes and sat me down using her serious strength. (Yes, although she didn't look it, Rose was very strong). "So what if you're placed in Slytherin? It's nothing to be ashamed of. Did you know Merlin was a Slytherin?" I lightened up for a second.

"He was?" I asked rather stupidly. Rose rolled her eyes and shoved one her heavy books into my chest.

"If you spent a little more time reading and a little less time worrying over stupid things, then you would know that Merlin, one of the most famous wizards to ever walk the face of this planet was a Slytherin himself." She wasn't lying. In the book that had just caused me a great deal of pain in my abdomen, was a biography about Merlin and according to the book, Merlin had indeed been a Slytherin. However, I still did not want to be in Slytherin because although Merlin had been a Slytherin, so had Voldemort.

"But what about Voldemort? What about the Death Eaters? They were Slytherins! I do not want to sleep on the same beds that they had once slept in!"

"Not all Death Eaters were Slytherins. Remember Peter Pettigrew? He had been a Gryffindor. Besides, it's not like everyone who has ever been in Slytherin has turned out bad. The other houses have produced their shares of dark wizards too." Rose always made it hard to argue because even before the argument has even started, she won.

"So you're not worried about breaking the family cycle?" I asked finally. Rose shook her head and picked up another book.

"I'm not and neither should you," she said as she went back to reading and taking notes. So that was that. Conversation over. Just then the door to our compartment slid open and a tall kid wearing a bright red T-shirt walked in.

"Oh sorry. Can I stay here? Everywhere else is full." His hair was brown and shaggy and his eyes were storm grey. His skin was olive and he had a mess of freckles on his face.

"Sure, sit." I motioned to a seat opposite Rose and I. He pulled his heavy luggage in and sat down. He smiled at us.

"My name's Nate. Nate Peterson." He reached for my hand to shake and he did the same with Rose.

"My name's Rose Weasley and this is my cousin Albus Potter."

"Pleasure," he said cunningly. Rose being the curious person she is began to ask him all sorts of questions.

"Where are you from, Nate?" she asked. Nate seemed to have just snapped out of a daydream.

"Oh, I'm from Waterloo. Small village in Lambeth," he said.

"Are you of magical descent?" Rose was asking whether he was a pureblood or not. Ever since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry had placed a taboo curse on the word "mudblood" which was an offensive term for witches and wizards of non magical parentage. It was a nasty word that was used by people who despised any wizards who were not pureblood, namely, the Death Eaters.

"No. My parents are not wizards. But boy were they surprised that one time I made my baby sister float three feet in the air. I think I was about eight when that happened." He chuckled and so did Rose and I. The thought of a levitating baby wasn't absurd to us wizards, but a muggle baby? Now that was funny.

We chatted amongst ourselves for a while. We learned that Nate's father was a baker and his mother was an orthodontist, which apparently was a much fancier way of saying dentist. Rose's muggle grandparents had been dentists before they had retired. He had two sisters; one younger and one older, who as far as he knew, were non magical.

Nate was a really funny guy who, like me, loved bacon. He said that was the best invention of non magic folks and I didn't dare disagree. Nate's only flaw as far as I'm concerned was the fact that he seemed to space out every once in a while, only snapping back to reality when we spoke loudly.

The train rolled on and pretty soon the food trolley rolled by us. The short little stubby witch who manned it knocked on our compartment door and asked if we'd like anything from the trolley. She had everything from Chocolate Frogs to Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. Rose and I both loved the flavored beans so we each got some. That was all Rose got however. Since her grandparents were dentists and her mother was the daughter of dentists, Rose had been raised on taking good care of her teeth. I on the other hand loaded up on chocolate éclairs and Chocolate Frogs and various cakes and sweets. Nate, who had very little wizard money, just got a few small cakes of some sort.

"It was hard trying to find someone to exchange regular money for wizard money," he said sheepishly once the trolley lady had moved on. I smiled and bit into one of my cakes.

The rain rolled by and pretty soon, we were nearing the Hogsmeade station. Nate and I both changed into our black robes while Rose began to pack up all her books into her bag. When the train came to a halt, we all got our things and exited our compartment. Outside our compartment were many students pushing and shoving each other trying to exit the Hogwarts Express.

"Monsters!" said Rose crossly, "Don't they know that we're all going to the exact same place!"

I spotted my older brother James up ahead. He was with his two best friends, Martin Finnigan and Colden Creevey, who like James, were entering their fifth year. Much to my dismay, James also had spotted me.

"Hey there Al!" he shouted over the raucous of the students. "Good luck in the sorting and don't forget, even if you are in Slytherin, no of us will judge you!" Martin sniggered and they all exited the train. Leave it to James to ruin my good mood. I had almost forgotten about the sorting until he brought it up again.

"Ignore him, Albus. You know your brother is a clown," Rose said.

"Sorting? What does he mean sorting?" Nate asked. I had almost forgot that Nate was muggle born too.

"This oaf doesn't know about the sorting? He must be a muggle born!" A sneer voice from behind had said. We all turn to face Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy who in his day, had been my father's worse nemesis and that was saying something. My father had had _a lot_ of nemesis. Scorpius wasn't alone. He had a rather fat boy on his left with curly brown hair, brown eyes, and a rather stupid expression on his face. On his right was a girl with blond hair and dark green eyes. She had an evil grin on her face.

"Piss off, Malfoy. If you know what's good for you!" Rose said. Her father had warned her about Malfoy back at King Cross's station. Scorpius grinned his grey eyes sparkled in a cold sort of way. He had white blond hair. In all, he was the spitting image of his father.

"You're a Weasley," he said, still smirking. "And you," he was referring to me, "You must be Potter's kid. My father told me all about how he used to beat your father at everything when they were at Hogwarts." He laughed and his two friends joined him. I began to get angry. Draco Malfoy had never beaten my father at anything.

"My father was never beaten your father at anything," I said, clenching my knuckles, "In fact, if I do recall correctly, your father was a Death Eater!" This last thing seemed to get Scorpius mad. He pulled out his wand and I did the same. It was weird because I doubted he knew any good spells and I _knew_ I didn't.

"That's enough!" yelled a familiar voice. I turned to see my cousin Victoire approaching us. She was Head Girl at Hogwarts and I assumed it was her job to make sure that all the students had exited the train. Now that I realized, we were the only ones left.

"How dare you embarrass me like that, Albus! And you Rose!" Rose turned a deep shade of red. I lowered my wand and so did Scorpius. Victoire looked absolutely hot. I had never seen her that angry before. "Now out! All of you!" We did as we were told. Nate, Rose, and I exited first and we joined the other students at the end of the station.

"Who was that?" aske Nate, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Victoire. She's our cousin," I said. I assumed Nate's dreamy look was a direct result of Victoire's extreme beauty. She did have veela blood from her mother after all. This wasn't the first time a boy had gone gaga over her. However, they were all out of luck because Victoire was taken by none other than Teddy Lupin, my dad's godson.

It was about 6 'o clock in the evening. Most of the students were getting aboard various carriages that would take them to the castle. First years, however, traditionally rode in boats across the lake with Hagrid, the gamekeeper. Hagrid was a big man or rather a small giant, being that he was a half-giant. He had worked in the castle since he had gotten expelled during his third year. Rose and I had met him quite a few times but Nate never had.

"Wow that's a big man!" Nate exclaimed as soon as he saw him. Hagrid motioned for us to get in the boat closest to his, which was about six times the size of the rest.

"All righ' there Al?" he said in his usual gruff voice. He had wild hair and a scruffy beard. Anyone who didn't personally know him would've been scared out of there wits, much like Nate was. I smiled and nodded. He then greeted Rose and Nate. Nate couldn't stop staring up at him even after he let go of Hagrid's massive hand. On the boat behind us were a few girls I had never seen before one of them, a small girl with brown hair and bug blue eyes smiled at me. I nervously returned the smile and turned around. We began to sail across the lake and towards the castle which was dark and very big. Once we landed, Hagrid lead us to the entrance, where we were greeted by a tall balding wizard with a very serious look on his face. He was wearing dark purple robes and a matching hat.

"Good evenin' Professor McDowell," said Hagrid. Professor McDowell nodded.

"Good evening to you too, Hagrid," he replied. His voice was sort of raspy like if he had swallowed a mouthful of floo powder and trust me, I know what that feels like. James had convinced me it was candy one time.

Hagrid bent over to me and whispered, "Don't forget ter come by me cabin on Friday for tea." "You're welcome ter come too of course," he said to Rose. Rose and I nodded and with that he entered the castle leaving the first years with the raspy professor. He cleared his throat signaling for everyone to stop talking. Once he had complete silence, he began to speak again in that raspy voice of his.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McDowell, Deputy Headmaster as well as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I also serve as head of Ravenclaw House. Now, if you will please follow me inside." We all followed him up the marble steps and into the castle. He led us straight to the Great Hall where we could hear the older students all seated and chatting away.

"Please wait out here. I will come back when we are ready for you all." Professor McDowell left us as he entered the Great Hall. As soon as he left, chatter erupted amongst all the first year, mainly about the sorting.

"I hope I'm in Hufflepuff!" said one girl in front of me.

"My dad was a Ravenclaw and my mum was a Gryffindor, so maybe I'll be in either of those houses," said a boy next to me.

"What's all this sorting business about?" Nate asked.

"There are four houses in which a wizard or witch can be sorted into. They are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin," Rose explained. "Each house has certain characteristics that their pupils must have and to determine which house you'll be sorted into, you must put on the Sorting Hat."

"Yeah, and if you're in Slytherin, chances are you'll become a Dark wizard and try to take over the world!" I added. My nervousness had returned. The Sorting ceremony was about to begin and my fear of being placed in Slytherin had once again logged itself on the tip of my mind. At this point, I didn't care where I was sorted as long as it was _not_ Slytherin.

Scorpius and his two friends made their way toward us. They all bore the same sly grin. Rose frowned when she saw them and clenched her fists.

"I know where_ I_ will be sorted, Potter," Scorpius said, "How about you?" The way he smiled just mad me want to hit him.

"Hopefully not in Slytherin," I replied coldly. I knew that was the house he "knew" he would be sorted in. His friends began to laugh.

"As if you've got what it takes to be a Slytherin!" said the blond girl. She smiled, revealing several chipped teeth.

"I wouldn't want to be in Slytherin if you paid me!" I replied angrily. Just as I said that, Professor McDowell returned.

"We are ready for you," he said.

We followed Professor McDowell passed the four long tables. The chatter had stopped and I felt hundreds of eyes focused on me. I caught site of James, who winked at me. He led us to the very front just below where the teacher's table was. Several Professors were seated there. Right below them was a stool upon which sat a very old and musty looking hat I caught Hagrid's eye and he winked at me.

"Now, when I call you up, you will place the Sorting Hat on your head and then once your house has been determined, you will the remove the hat, place it back on the stool and go sit with your house." Professor McDowell took out a long roll of parchment and read out the first name. "Arlington, Joseph."

Joseph, a small kid with short black hair and brown eyes approached the stool nervously. He took the hat and placed it on his head. For about thirty seconds, nothing happened. Then the hat yelled out, "RAVENCLAW!" The kids at Ravenclaw table began to clap as Joseph joined them looking relieved. The next girl, Katlyn Broxton was sorted into Hufflepuff. Several more names were called. Scorpius's fat friend, who turned out to be named Lucas Goyle was sorted into Slytherin. When it was Malfoy's turn, the hat had barely touched his white blond hair before shouting "SLYTHERIN!" Scorpius smiled like he knew it all along and he did. He went to join his friend Lucas at the Slytherin table. The girl that had smiled at me on the boat's name turned out to be Charity Macmillan. She was placed in Hufflepuff.

I was sweating as McDowell passed the 'Ns' and the 'Os." Finally, Nate was called up. He placed the hat firmly on his head and waited. Some time passed before the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR" The Gryffindor table went mad. I saw my many cousins get up and clap as Nate joined them at the table. Then my name was called.

"Potter, Albus!" Professor McDowell called. The whole room went oddly quiet. The same had happened the year James had been sorted. My father was very famous and people were itching to know where his second-born would be placed. I slowly walked over to the stool, and placed the hat on my head. The hat began to speak, but only in my mind.

"I see a lot of talent! Yes, yes, a lot of talent but there is also very, very low self confidence. Your brother was much easier to place. Hmm…perhaps Slytherin?" It was now time to put my father's advice to the test.

"No!" I thought hard. "Not Slytherin! Please not Slytherin!" The hat chuckled inside my brain.

"Not Slytherin, eh? I remember sorting another Potter kid who said the exact same thing. So not Slytherin? Well then it must be GRYFFINOR!" A big sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I took off the Sorting Hat. The Gryffindor table had exploded with shouting and clapping. As I approached it, James pulled a seat for me.

"Well then, welcome aboard, Al," he said patting me on the back. My cousin Roxanne leaned over from across the table to high five me. It felt good to get that off my chest. Nate, who was sitting at the end of the table, gave me two thumbs up. I then focused my attention back to the front where Malfoy's other friend was being sorted. Her name was Linda Rhineburn. She was, not surprisingly, placed in Slytherin. Several other people were sorted and five more kids had been placed in Gryffindor before it was Rose's turn. She approached the stall confidently and placed that hat on and then we waited and waited and waited.

"We have a hatstall," said Martin Finnigan, who was sitting on James's other side.

"A hatstall? What's that?" I asked.

"A hatstall is a person who takes more than five minutes to be sorted. It happens when the hat isn't entirely sure where to place them," said James. Being Rose, the hat was undoubtedly debating between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Finally, after several more minutes, the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINOR." This time I was able to join the other Gryffindors in clapping. Rose, smiling widely joined us and took a seat next to Molly.

After Rose, only three kids were left. One, a boy with big glasses was sorted to Ravenclaw and the last two remaining were both sorted into Hufflepuff. Once Everyone had been placed and the Sorting Hat had been taken away, the Headmaster stood up. He was wearing robes of dark yellow and his hair was brown and shoulder length. He had a small goatee and he was wearing a very big smile.

"That's Professor Bennett the Headmaster," whispered James. I knew that, of course. Everyone knew Professor Bennett. He had been an Unspeakable in the ministry who had somehow succeeded Professor McGonagall as Headmaster of Hogwarts. There were a lot of stories as to how he had been chosen and almost none of them were good.

"I welcome you to a brand new year here at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Bennett the Headmaster. I look forward to a very exciting year." The next thing that happened was completely bizarre. Professor Bennett seemed to be looking directly at me. I turned around to see if it was anybody else, but when I turned back his eyes were elsewhere.

He continued, "As you all know, here at Hogwarts we strive on teaching you all the best possible magic there is. Now, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like for me to remind you all that the list of banned items is placed in his office on the second floor." James had told me all about Mr. Filch. He was always trying to get students into trouble along with his ghost cat. "If anybody would like to tryout for their house quidditch team, then they must consult with their team's captain. They are Mr. James Potter for Gryffindor, Ms. Fiona Dougal for Hufflepuff, Mr. Patrick Davidson for Ravenclaw and Mr. Sardus Hult for Slytherin." I caught Roxanne staring jealously at James. James had been named captain last year after my oldest cousin Fred had graduated the year before. Instead of naming his sister, Roxanne, he had instead chosen James who was younger than Roxanne. Professor Bennett went on. "Also, I would like to mention that all students must get the passwords to get into their house common room from their prefects. Now, since I can't think of any other boring announcements, please, dig in!" As soon as he said that the empty plates in front of us filled magically with food.

"Finally!" shouted Martin, who began to load his plate with mashed potatoes and chicken. James began to fill his plate with pasta and a lot of sauce. James loved pasta. I decided to load up as well. I filled mine with all sorts of different foods especially meats. Up in the teacher's table, Professor Bennett had sat down and was now having what looked to be a very serious conversation with Professor McDowell. There it was again. As he was conversing, he glanced over at me and then quickly turned away. It was probably no big deal. Maybe it had something to do with my status as Harry Potter's son. Even now kids around the Gryffindor table were coming from all directions to shake my hand. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

My thoughts were interrupted by Nate, who was literally eating everything. It was hard to believe how much that boy ate. His plate was loaded. It looked like a mountain of pasta, potatoes, meats, and a lot of other stuff.

"Geez, Nate, if you eat all that food you won't save any room for dessert," Rose said. Nate said something that was not understandable through a mouthful of salad.

I was happy that neither I nor Rose had messed up the family cycle although Rose had come pretty close. Now that I was with my friends and my very large family I figured nothing could go wrong. But as usual, I was wrong.


End file.
